Vibration analysis is known in the art as an effective tool in a predictive maintenance program for machinery. Conventional vibration based predictive maintenance programs rely on Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) generated vibration signatures, collected using a portable data collector, and an expert system to process the data and determine which machinery needs attention. Increasingly, permanently installed systems are being used, both to provide continuous monitoring of critical machinery, and to reduce labor costs of data collection.
Such conventional technology, while effective, has various drawbacks associated therewith which limit applications to facilities having large costly machines, or critical machines where unexpected shutdowns are unacceptable. For example, the portable data collectors are complex devices which are expensive to design and build. The analysis of the vibration data using either manual or automated techniques requires a significant amount of study to be effective, and skilled labor to analyze the data and interpret the results.
Furthermore, data acquisition is costly because of the labor involved. The software which drives the technology is complex and expensive. Moreover, there is much set up time involved with configuring the data analysis to a new machine.
Simpler devices, known as vibration meters, measure the vibration from a machine and compare a single broadband level to a threshold. Such approach can be effective for detecting the deterioration of a machine, but the approach is severely limited because the overall level is controlled by the highest peak in the measured vibration. The overall vibration level may not change at all even though serious deterioration in the machine may be occurring.
In view of the aforementioned shortcomings associated with the above-described conventional approaches, there is a strong need in the art for a vibration monitoring device which is cost-effective even in smaller facilities with perhaps only a few machines. There is a strong need for a device which employs relatively low cost hardware/software, and which may be utilized by low skill workers without requiring significant training. On the other hand, there is a strong need for a simpler device which is not limited to measuring overall vibration level so as to be susceptible to false positive diagnoses.